Soil biota, antimicrobial resistance and planetary health

Yong-Guan Zhu; Yi Zhao; Dong Zhu; Michael Gillings; Josep Penuelas; Yong Sik Ok; Anthony Capon; Steve Banwart

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2019.105059

Soil biota, antimicrobial resistance and planetary health

Environ Int. 2019 Oct:131:105059. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105059. Epub 2019 Jul 30.

Authors

Yong-Guan Zhu¹, Yi Zhao², Dong Zhu³, Michael Gillings⁴, Josep Penuelas⁵, Yong Sik Ok⁶, Anthony Capon⁷, Steve Banwart⁸

Affiliations

¹ State Key Lab of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China. Electronic address: ygzhu@rcees.ac.cn.
² Section for Microbial Ecology and Biotechnology, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsenvej 40, DK-1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
³ Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China.
⁴ Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
⁵ CSIC, Global Ecology Unit, CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
⁶ Korea Biochar Research Center, Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
⁷ Planetary Health Platform, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁸ School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom.

PMID: 31374443
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105059

Abstract

The concept of planetary health acknowledges the links between ecosystems, biodiversity and human health and well-being. Soil, the critical component of the interconnected ecosystem, is the most biodiverse habitat on Earth, and soil microbiomes play a major role in human health and well-being through ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling, pollutant remediation and synthesis of bioactive compounds such as antimicrobials. Soil is also a natural source of antimicrobial resistance, which is often termed intrinsic resistance. However, increasing use and misuse of antimicrobials in humans and animals in recent decades has increased both the diversity and prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in soils, particularly in areas affected by human and animal wastes, such as organic manures and reclaimed wastewater, and also by air transmission. Antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistance are two sides of the sword, while antimicrobials are essential in health care; globally, antimicrobial resistance is jeopardizing the effectiveness of antimicrobial drugs, thus threatening human health. Soil is a crucial pathway through which humans are exposed to antimicrobial resistance determinants, including those harbored by human pathogens. In this review, we use the nexus of antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistance as a focus to discuss the role of soil in planetary health and illustrate the impacts of soil microbiomes on human health and well-being. This review examines the sources and dynamics of antimicrobial resistance in soils and uses the perspective of planetary health to track the movement of antimicrobial-resistance genes between environmental compartments, including soil, water, food and air.

Keywords: Antimicrobials; Human health; Planetary health; Resistome; Soil microbiome.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Drug Resistance, Bacterial*
Ecosystem*
Health*
Humans
Soil Microbiology*

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents